The Budget Link

The initial annual cost of implementing the RMP is
reflected in the President's Fiscal Year 1995 budget,
which has approximately 18.1 million dollars for the Coos
Bay District. There is not yet, however, a clear
understanding of what the management needs and costs of
the ecosystem management approach will be, so future year
budget estimates may differ as experience is gained in
implementing the RMP.

Timber sale levels and associated programs will be
reduced if annual funding is not sufficient to support
the relevant actions assumed in the plan, including
mitigation and monitoring. The extent of the reduction
will be based on the principle of program balance as
envisioned in the plan. For example, if funding in a
given year is sufficient only to support half of planned
annual investments in precommercial thinning, the
otherwise anticipated timber sale volume for that year
would be reduced by half of the portion of the declared
allowable sale quantity (ASQ) attributable to
precommercial thinning. If, in subsequent years, budget
levels permit BLM to eliminate the backlog of unfunded
investments that have accumulated, timber sale levels
will be adjusted upward to the extent that the work can
be accomplished. If subsequent budget levels create a
cumulative shortfall over a few years, the ASQ will be
adjusted downward.

This principle will apply similarly to management of
roads and other facilities. If maintenance of such
facilities is not adequately funded, some of them may be
closed to scale back management commitments to the level
that is budgeted.